Safety of Rocky Flats refuge may trigger lively public session

Agencies declare site safe for visitors, but skepticism lingers

By Charlie Brennan

Staff Writer

Posted:
05/15/2017 02:14:13 PM MDT

A sign hangs on a fence at the Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge earlier this year. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has plans to open the refuge to the public by summer 2018, and a public "sharing" session on Monday night will focus on safety at the site. (Jeremy Papasso / Staff Photographer)

As the 5,237-acre refuge is steered toward a planned summer 2018 opening, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has been conducting a number of "sharing sessions" for the public focused on a variety of topics. There is little doubt that Monday's gathering at the Arvada Center could be the most contentious in the series.

The topic will be "visitor safety." To just about everyone who has been paying attention to the evolution of this project, that translates to one central question: Is there any lingering danger to the public posed by residual toxins such as plutonium-239, a legacy of the nuclear weapons production carried out there from 1952 to its closing in 1992?

The U.S. Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment all say the answer is no, that a $7 billion cleanup and remediation — plus the continued closure of the roughly 1,300-acre Central Operable Unit at the center of the property — has left the surrounding refuge area safe for animal and humankind alike.

Advertisement

"We've seen no evidence from any scientific source to conclude that there's any risk to the public in opening the refuge," said Carl Spreng, environmental protection specialist for the state health department, which he will represent at Monday's meeting.

Skepticism on that point runs high. The third "sharing" session concerning the refuge, which took place Feb. 22, had been advertised as a chance to get public feedback on the proposed refuge visitors' center. But many who packed the Broomfield meeting space that night nevertheless brought up questions of public safety.

With Monday's meeting advertised as focusing on that very topic, it's sure to be a lively session, and Spreng knows there will be a significant turnout from advocacy groups such as the Rocky Flats Downwinders, Candelas Glows and the Boulder-based Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, all of which highlight the hazards they insist are associated even with proximity to the former weapons site south of Boulder — and certainly any public activities proposed on its property.

Spreng doubts he will convince them otherwise.

"I haven't given up trying, although I admit that there is some frustration, because the science is sound," Spreng said.

"It's been my naive hope in the past" that all members of the public might come to accept officials' contention that the refuge will be safe, Spreng said. "And I no longer have that expectation, no."

Officials had conducted a study about two decades ago that examined cancer incidence near Rocky Flats from 1980 to 1989, and the latest study used the same methodology as the first study, but considered cancers occurring from 1990 to 2014.

The new study concluded that cancer rates near Rocky Flats were no different than expected based on rates in the remainder of the metro area. And data from the second study were seen as corroborating data from the first.

The Rocky Flats Downwinders group is promoting a separate health survey being conducted through Metropolitan State University of Denver to investigate relationships between residents who lived downwind of the former weapons plant and unusual illnesses.

Its preliminary findings covering a 64-year period, and based on 1,745 completed surveys, showed that 848 of the respondents reported cases of cancer, with 414 of those cancers designated as "rare," with thyroid cancer occurring with a higher frequency than is typically seen nationwide.

Spreng is aware of the survey's findings, and said they have prompted the state to expand the parameters of its own study.

"Thyroid cancer was not included in the original studies, because it was not recommended by a panel of experts and it does not have known connections to the type of radiation at Rocky Flats," Spreng said. "But because concerns were raised, that's the reason for expanding this study."

'Critters' matter, too

Boulder resident LeRoy Moore, a longtime Rocky Flats critic and consultant to the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, is not buying assurances that the refuge is safe.

"When they say the site is safe they are actually referring to the fact that the standards that they set for the cleanup are met," Moore said. "And to call it safe is really not accurate."

Moore credited a 1997 Columbia University study that demonstrated a single plutonium alpha particle induces mutations in mammal cells, as well as the 2006 National Academy of Sciences report " Health Risks From Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation," for helping to inform his conviction that Rocky Flats is no place for people and other living things.

The Boulder Valley School District school board voted in March to pass a resolution to prohibit field trips to the refuge when it does open. And according to the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, community organizers are seeking to persuade the St. Vrain Valley School District to do the same.

Monday's session in Arvada is the fourth and final "sharing" informational session being hosted by U.S. Fish & Wildlife as it works toward opening the refuge next year. Moore hesitated to call this the most important of the four.

"I think they're all important," he said. "But the (Monday) topic is risk. And that, of course, is at the heart of the question about opposition to opening the refuge."

Roya Mogadam, a spokeswoman for U.S. Fish & Wildlife, said the scope of the meeting will be more broad than solely addressing questions of potential contamination or illness stemming from toxins associated with the 40 years of operations. at Rocky Flats.

"That's not really our jurisdiction. That's more of the other agencies'," Mogadam said. "We'll talk about law enforcement, public access, visiting hours. We'll probably stay pretty focused on what we have jurisdiction and expertise at."

And, she said, "We'll also talk about wildlife safety. There's all kinds of wildlife; we're concerned about the safety of all kinds of critters out there."

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.

Numbers suggest desire is greater than ever to have a CHSAA-sanctioned female divisionClarissa Batrez is a wrestler, not a girl who wrestles. Her father and older brother both wrestled so Batrez was raised in a wrestling environment all her life. Batrez speaks glowingly of the sport and loves that it gives her a competitive avenue through which she can channel her "inner power" and natural aggression. Full Story

The Boulder alt-country band gives its EPs names such as Death and Resurrection, and its songs bear the mark of hard truths and sin. But the punk energy behind the playing, and the sense that it's all in good fun, make it OK to dance to a song like "Death." Full Story